Forgotten War of Lower Alosteko (IC, Signup First)

[Kheiastan]

OOC/Sign-Ups

Kushtut, Lower Alosteko

The ancient city of Kushtut was a shell of its former self. Ancient sites of religion and culture, all destroyed, in the decades long conflict that had raged between Kheiastan and Alosteka militants, as well as tens of thousands killed. Since 1995 the city had been under harsh authoritarian rule from the People's Armed Forces of Kheiastan, who suppressed anything and everything that could represent dissidence or rebellion. Now, 20 years later, most of the thought of an independent Lower Alosteko had been long abandoned, with most people being too occupied by trying to survive to think about politics. A cooperative puppet government had been put in place, the Autonomous Republic of Lower Alosteko, with local elections that were consistently rigged. On the other hand, a small group of fighters still existed in Lower Alosteko, waging guerilla war and terror attacks against the Kheiastani military, and ethnic Kheians.

---

Habib Al-Darzi
9:34 PM
August 14, 2015

Habib wiped a dry cloth across the dull, dusty counter of his tailor shop, before using it to dab a bit of sweat on his forehead. He lifted his wrist up to look at his watch; 9:34. Definitely time to close up. He folded the cloth and placed it under the counter, and then walked to the door to turn the lock and flip the sign from "Come In!" to "Come Back Tomorrow!". He then walked around, closing all of the shutters, blinds and windows and making sure that the bars were tight and the windows locked. Finally, satisfied that it was locked up enough, he turned and began walking towards the back door, pausing briefly to retrieve a stack of rolled papers and stuffing them into his robes. He walked out and locked the door, before setting out at a brisk walk up the street.
He hadn't meant to close up so late; the meeting was at 10:00 PM, and it took him 30 minutes to walk there on a good day. However, at a light jog, he managed to cross through the entire Fahjurah Market District to the Jisrih District, widely avoided as one of the more dangerous parts of the city. After about 5 minutes of walking through a few streets where it felt as though he'd be shot, he turned down a narrow alley between two buildings that looked as though they'd collapse against each other at any moment. He approached a small, almost hidden doorway towards the end of the alley, and knocked on the door nine times exactly. A few second later, locks could be heard being unlocked, before the large metal door creaked open and a man in white robes and a bandana nodded at him. He stepped inside, heading through a very narrow hallway to a room with a table and a group of people sitting at it.
"Ah, Habib. So nice of you to join us. Sit, please." one of them - his name was Tahir - said in a rather irritated tone. He awkwardly sat at one of the creaking chairs, and layed out the papers from earlier on the table.
"I talked to a few of our contacts living close to the Husamiyah District; they've identified multiple weak points," he said, sliding most of them across towards the other men. Husamiyah was a walled and heavily secured district, and it also housed almost all of the wealthy Kheians who were exploiting Kushtut. "however, there is one of particular interest. There's an area in the southeast of the wall where a breach has been established in the wall. The bricks have been completely cut out, and they can be taken out and put back in at will, so as to avoid detection. Its only used at night, but if we move tomorrow night, we can have our assets smuggled in to the safehouse easily. Then the operation will be ready to take place the following afternoon, if you're willing to go through with it." he finished, extending out the one rolled up paper he'd withheld.
"This is good. I'm surprised we didn't know about this before. We'll check out the breach tomorrow and make sure it isn't swarming with military, and as long as it all goes well, the operation will definitely commence the day after tomorrow. I don't know who your contacts are, Habib, but they are good." Tahir replied, smiling. He stood up and walked over to the overview map of Kushtut on the wall opposite of the entrance, and drew a mark at a market inside of the Husamiyah District.
"This is where the attack will take place. Due to the nature of this attack, we can't perform a typical car bomb or IED, so we'll be doing a sacrificial attack this time around; don't worry about it, we already have the candidate picked out. Odd one he is, seems a bit too eager to blow himself up, but it works well enough. Now, everyone should get out of here. We've been here long enough, and the longer we stay here, the more we risk detection." Tahir finished, motioning towards the door.
Multiple people left one at a time over the next half an hour or so, before Habib stepped out the door, and looked around. It was definitely dark now, and walking through Jisrih District at night was no joke; he checked to make sure his small pistol was strapped to his waist, and after feeling that it was indeed there, started walking quickly back towards the Fahjurah Market District. The rest of the walk went without incident, and he returned to his small shop, going to sleep in the small bedroom in the back of the store.

---

Yusuf Bousaid
12:41 PM
August 16, 2015

I strolled across the Central Husamiyah Square, on my way to browse multiple jewellers for an anniversary gift for my wife. I owned the East Kheiastan Mining Company, you see, and so I had a fair bit of money to spend, though not a whole lot to spend on in this god-forsaken city of poverty and murder; thank Allah I lived in the only good district in the city, otherwise I'd be forced to mingle with the savages known as Alosteka in the other districts. I walked up to a stall and looked; there was a nice necklace with a deep blue stone in the middle. It wasn't luxurious by any means, but I knew she would love it.
"Excuse me, how much for this?" I asked the stall keeper. He looked up at me, and then at the necklace.
"2,300 Credits." He replied. I dug out a few 1,000 credit bills, and handed them to him.
"Keep the change." I said, pocketing the necklace and walking off towards the post office. As I approached, I saw a rather scraggly man in black robes and one of those god-ugly head pieces that the Alosteka wear. How did he even get into this part of town? I rolled my eyes, and passed him, entering into the post office to drop off the necklace, for it to be engraved with "Nayiia", my wife's name. I walked back out, and saw the man sitting on the steps of the post office. What a bum. Why couldn't you slum around with the rest of your savage friends in the Jisah District, or whatever its called?
I went down the stairs, and after calling a taxi, waited near the main pillars for it to arrive. As I waited, I noticed a group of younger people, likely in their 20's, coming up the stairs, laughing. As they walked closer to the post office, the Alosteka man stood up, I assume to ask them for money. However, as they got closer, he raised his hands up to the sky, while a few curious bystanders looked at him. Suddenly, he began screaming in Alosteka, before I heard the distinct words "ALLAHU AKBAR". By the time I realized I should run, it was too late. A massive explosion ripped through the landing, the post office, and much of the square, as I was flung back in a massive ball of fire. Everything had already gone dark before I hit the ground.

[Glorious ReBublic of Alevstan]

Tjegip Asti
2015 August 15

Kushtut—all of Lower Alosteko, in fact—was at the bottom of places Tjegip would want to be posted again. His only other postings had been in the various states Vilats bordered, so he was pretty confident on that opinion. He'd been to the Ekbira AV, still under de facto military occupation, briefly during his training, and even that was paradise compared to its neighbour a few hundred kilometres north. The few cities there were rebuilt with stark concrete apartment blocks and offices, true, but at least it had been rebuilt. Tjegip briefly supposed Kushtut might have been this bad before the wars.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he realised how slow he was going. The consulate had long since been shuttered for safety reasons, as diplomatic immunity was a feeble shield to terrorists and criminals. He hadn't even that defence, so trouble was avoided as much as possible. Tjegip picked up his pace and turned the corner. A few buildings down, he paused, checked a scrap of paper, and went into an alley—more dilapidated than the street itself, if that was possible. He counted off the doors, looking for someone who was supposed have access to a slight bit more information on the regional factions and their actions, whether intended or ongoing. Reaching the correct door, he fingered a knife before knocking. He hadn't had any dangerous encounters in his career so far, but that didn't mean it wouldn't happen eventually. Three hollow thuds were sounded on the thin plywood door, and he waited momentarily. From the other side, a young man's voice asked in Kheian who it was. He responded appropriately—"a Vilatik intelligence officer"—and the man opened the door to let him in.

Stepping inside, a quick look revealed it to be much the same as many other houses in the city—a few rooms with various furniture scattered around, a few bare electric lights hanging from the ceiling, patched-up walls, and an unpleasant smell that he had gotten used to. Outside, rusty iron stairs led up to similar rooms. Quickly shutting the door, the other gestured to one of two chairs and said, "Please sit." Tjegip did so; the man quickly followed to the chair opposite him. "Greetings," Tjegip started. "I'm a Vilatik intelligence officer, and I'm looking for—as our friend has probably told you—information on the various militiant groups operating in and around Kushtut. I assume you are Ibrahim Ghali?" He nodded. "Yes, that would be me. I'm... acquaintances with a few people whom I believe are in these groups you were talking about. I don't know where any of them live, and I see them very occasionally—most I know of own or work at stores—but I do have a slight bit of information." Tjegip nodded. "Could you write down all you know of them? Where you see them, their names, where they work? Stuff like that will help." Ibrahim glanced at Tjegip's pocket for a moment. "Oh. Here is a pen and paper." He gave both to the other man.

In a few minutes, he had a list with five to ten names and related information on it. On the backside, there was a list of some with nothing but given names, a few with places of occupation attached. When he asked about those, Ibrahim responded, "Those are names I've heard some mention when talking. Most of them are probably nothing, but I assumed you would want them. Will there be...?" "Of course, payment? He pulled an envelope from the inside of his jacket. Counting through them quickly, he handed Ibrahim a stack of thousand credit notes. "There should be twenty-nine thousand credits here. You may count them if you wish. If you obtain more information, alert me and I will meet with you. Ah... Don't do anything too dangerous to come by it, though. Your life is more valuable than the money." Ibrahim looked up from the notes. "Thank you. I will look forward to seeing you again." Tjegip got up and went to the door. "Good day." Ibrahim responded in turn and quietly shut the door. Stepping down the stained concrete stairs, he went back on his way by a somewhat circuitous route.

---

The Vilatik Intelligence Service headquarters in Kushtut was in the nicer side of town, but even still it was dilapidated and cramped. There was a room for him to stay at, another room for any other intelligence officers in town, a small safe for sensitive information, communications equipment, and a austere office. As Tjegip closed the door behind him and walked in, he pulled the scrap of paper out of his pocket and started scanning through it. Nothing familiar. Then again, most if not all of these people had no relation whatsoever to what he was looking for. He pulled out a few small folders from a shelf, and started comparing all the information he had just gotten with what he already had before.

Just over two hours later, he finished up checking what he had on the list. All but three of those items were new, (excluding the rough physical descriptions, which often matched up by coincidence) and two of those three had but one previous mention from his other assets. The remaining person, though their name was not consistent throughout the different informant's intelligence on them, had mostly the same description, frequented the same locations, and talked with some of the few others who had also reports from multiple informants. However, he didn't know more than a general location and very little of their possible habits. Besides, he would need to receive permission from his handler in Avari to personally gather information. Going to the somewhat outdated computer at another desk, he sent scans of all of the information on his suspect—not much, it would be just over a page if it was condensed—and typed up what he personally thought on itto the regional command. The find wasn't out of the ordinary, most of these never lead to anything or they suddenly disappeared. Either way, whatever could provide a lead was helpful. Rubbing his eyes, Tjegip sent the message and logged out of the computer. He could focus at finding more tomorrow, but for now it was nearly midnight. He turned off the flickering fluorescent light and went to the bedroom to get some rest.

---

2015 August 16

Tjegip locked his beat-up car and ran towards the location of the explosion. He hadn't been close enough to hear it when it went off, but the paths of various vehicles let him take a good guess as to where it was. Various rumours gave different stories, but it appeared—obviously—that it was a terrorist attack on the relatively good section of the city which he stayed at the outskirts of. He soon reached the bomb site. A crowd of police and emergency vehicles surrounded the area, and around that people nervously attempted to get a better view of the scene, blocking most of what had happened. He asked someone what happened just as one of the police officers shouted through a loudspeaker. Though his grasp of Kheian was only intermediate, he could understand that they did not want the civilians near the scene. Considering that Lower Alosteko was virtually under military occupation, Tjegip judged it wise to do so. As he quickly walked back to his car, the officers forcibly dispersed those who were to slow to do so on their own. Again, he asked no one in particular near him what happened. An older woman spoke up. "They didn't say anything, they—" blocked? "—our view of it. One said they would—" release the information later? I need to practise more. He quickly thanked her and got back in the car. If he could learn anything—anything at all—from this incident, that would be a huge leap forward in his intelligence mission.